Last night we were invited by Tourism Malaysia to a Malaysian evening at Finlandshuset in Stockholm. There was food, dance performances and information about the country as a tourist destination. The aim was of course to attract more Scandinavians to experience Malaysia. The most fun was watching the dancers - and we actually heard some unexpected things about Malaysia that we can tell you about!
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ShareMalaysia as a tourist destination
During the evening we were offered a lot of information about Malaysia as a tourist destination, including from Dato' Haji Azizan Noordin, Deputy Director General of the Malaysia Tourism Promotion Board.
The people who spend the longest holidays in Malaysia are Saudis, but Scandinavians are also an important tourist group. The beaches, exotic nature and shopping in the capital Kuala Lumpur attract many, but there are also completely different things to do in Malaysia as a tourist ...
Unexpected things to do in Malaysia
If you are not yet married, you can organise your wedding in Malaysia. We heard about a couple who organised their wedding at high altitude in the treetops and another couple who conducted their entire wedding underwater - which included several days of scuba training for the wedding guests who were to attend.
We also heard about all the theme parks that have been or are being built, from Legoland to the world's first 20th Century Fox Word. In addition, Formula 1 and the Motorcycle Grand Prix seem to be huge.
It was fascinating to hear, but to be honest, we're not particularly attracted to either theme parks or motorsport... and we're already married. We've been to Langkawi and in Kuala Lumpur before, but we would love to visit Borneo, which seems amazing with all the nature and animals.
Travel blogger Christine, with the blog 29 degrees is going there soon. She usually takes fantastic pictures so if you want to get some Borneo inspiration, it might be a good idea to join her there in the near future! Have you been to Malaysia or would you like to go there, and if so, what attracts you?
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Åsa says:
I have travelled by train through Malaysia, from Thailand to Singapore! The AC was on so we were freezing and the radio was on between two channels so it crackled all the time, which felt a bit like torture. We changed trains in Kuala Lumpur I think. But we have actually been to Penang! It was quite nice, with many buildings in Chinese style. I still remember All you can eat at Pizza Hut, because we had been in Thailand for three months and had hardly eaten any bread and cheese the whole time. Got so full I thought I would burst!
27 January 2016 - 21:05
BP says:
Formula 1 and Motorcycle Grand Prix I knew that they are incredibly big there, because MOTO GP we follow slavishly!
Since I follow Marinasbay, I think Singapore sounds incredibly exciting with its architecture and the way it preserves/restores old buildings. But that destination falls on the fact that you are not allowed to smoke there at less than 500 from buildings. Such distances do not exist in this tiny country. Guess Peter agrees here;-)
27 January 2016 - 21:50
Alexandra says:
Getting married underwater sounds like a tricky project 😉.
I have been to Malaysia once, in Kuala Lumpur. It was when we were coming back from our year in Australia, we stayed there for a few nights just because we could. But after a year as backpackers we were a bit short of money and my VISA card stopped working so we only had my mate's card. We wanted to eat at Hard rock café but we didn't know if we could afford it, so we went there during the day and looked at the menu and decided what we could afford to eat in the evening haha. Then we went to IKEA for a whole day (a little homesick maybe). So I can't say I've experienced Kuala lumpur, but we had a view of the Petrona twin Towers from our hotel room and it was always something. 😉
27 January 2016 - 23:00
Ditte says:
What a nice evening! And getting information about a country is always nice.
K.L as a city we liked and have been there a couple of times but Langkawi is not one of the favourites, but there are others, such as Redang and Tioman Island. And certainly more who have not visited.
Borneo is a destination we have long wanted to visit and could easily have done during our years in China, but we didn't have the time. And Borneo is still there.
(We don't need to get married, we arranged that in Fiji and then the marriage was also valid in Sweden, which is not always the case if you get married abroad).
28 January 2016 - 1:30
Marina says:
Malaysia is a wonderful country with many sides! We have done a lot there during our years in Singapore, but there is still a lot left. In addition to the places mentioned, there are all the wonderful little islands on the eastern side with swimming and fantastic snorkelling. By the way, I can only say that you do not have to worry about smoking here, you can visit us - you can smoke outside and there are even plenty of ashtrays on display...
28 January 2016 - 6:28
Lennart says:
What a nice evening!
28 January 2016 - 8:13
admin says:
Asa, having super cold air conditioning seems to be popular in Asia. Difficult because you often have quite few clothes on... have also frozen on buses! And of course it's fun with all these travel memories you have!? 🙂
BP, how nice that you knew about this with Formula 1 and Motorcycle Grand Prix. I really had NO idea 😉 And haha, interesting with Singapore! Then maybe that's where we should go if Peter wants to quit smoking!? 😉
Alexandra, travelling when you are young and short of money is a bit special! It is an adventure, even if it can be tough sometimes. I also have those kinds of memories 😉.
Ditte, I also have the feeling that there are better places than Langkawi. We stayed in a very personal place with super sweet staff and nice little bungalows and it made us feel good, but if we were to go back to Malaysia, I would choose another place. Langkawi is very touristy and I feel quite "finished" with that place. But as I said, there are more places in Malaysia to see!
Marina, oh ok, I thought we would be a good place for Peter to stop smoking, haha. But ok, then we can go there anyway! 🙂 The east side of Malaysia sounds interesting!
Lennart, it was nice 🙂 .
28 January 2016 - 9:03
Ama de casa says:
Malaysian evening at Finlandshuset in Stockholm? Internationally worse 🙂
We have been to Malaysia a few times. Among other things -91, when we went with mixed means of transport from Bankok to Singapore from where we flew home. Then we visited Langkawi, Penang, Pangkor and KL.
A wonderful country! But now it was "a while" since we were there... 😉.
28 January 2016 - 10:50
Anita Malta says:
What fun that you were invited and got information about the country and got to take part in some Malaysian culture 🙂 Great pictures you took too. Malaysia is a fantastic country that has an incredible amount to offer and there is a risk that I write too much here now as Malaysia is the destination we sell the most and best of 😉 But I will not be too enthusiastic and write column metres. There is a lot of info on our website that I do not intend to advertise here. Does not really feel like it fits 😐 Have travelled a lot in the country and visited the east coast, west Malaysia with the islands outside but mainly Borneo. If you travel to Malaysia, I really recommend also travelling to Sabah / Sarawak. There is a rich wildlife, fantastic nature and perhaps one of the world's finest diving waters. Many have probably heard of Sipadan.
Sabah/Sarawak has a lot to offer and many combine adventure, sunbathing and diving. We customise all trips and have no groups. Here you can see orangutans, monkeys, turtles, elephants and crocodiles. You can hike in the jungle and visit the indigenous people who live in longhouses, climb Mt Kinabalu, Southeast Asia's highest mountain and then take a breathtaking rafting trip on the Padas River....
That's right, I wasn't going to write column metres 😉 It will be very fun to follow Travel Blogger Christine 🙂 .
28 January 2016 - 13:13
admin says:
Ama de casa, I imagine there are more tourists in Langkawi now than there were in '91, but I would love to visit more places in Malaysia!
Anita Malta, glad you like the pictures! Usually it's my photos here on the blog, but this time it's actually Peter's photos (they turned out better than mine). Glad you like Malaysia and that it is popular! We saw pictures from Sabah and Sarawak and it really looked amazing! It seems amazing to see all those animals, I would love to do that sometime, it would be an experience!
28 January 2016 - 22:31